410 research outputs found
Gonadal function in males after chemotherapy for early-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma treated in four subsequent trials by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer: EORTC Lymphoma Group and the Groupe d'Etude des Lymphomes de l'Adulte.
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51705.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)PURPOSE: To analyze fertility in male patients treated with various combinations of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, with or without alkylating agents, or with radiotherapy alone for Hodgkin's lymphoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels were measured in patients with early-stage upper-diaphragmatic disease enrolled in four European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) trials (H6-H9). Median follow-up after therapy was 32 months. Patients with FSH measurement at least 12 months after end of treatment (n = 355) were selected to assess post-treatment fertility. Patients with FSH measurement 0 to 9 months after therapy (n = 349) were selected to analyze fertility recovery; of these, patients with elevated FSH (> 10 U/L; n = 101) were followed until recovery. Factors predictive for therapy-related infertility were assessed by logistic regression. RESULTS: The proportion of elevated FSH was 3% and 8% in patients treated with radiotherapy only or with nonalkylating chemotherapy (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine [ABVD], epirubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, prednisone [EBVP]); it was 60% (P < .001) after chemotherapy containing alkylating agents (mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone [MOPP], MOPP/doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine [ABV], bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone [BEACOPP]). After a median time of 19 months, recovery of fertility occurred in 82% of patients treated without alkylating chemotherapy. This proportion was 30%, statistically (P < .001) lower in those treated with alkylating chemotherapy, and median time to recovery was 27 months. The post-treatment proportion of elevated FSH increased significantly (P < .001) with the dose of alkylating chemotherapy administered, and recovery was less frequent and slower after higher doses. Age more than 50 years and stage II disease also contributed to poor outcome. CONCLUSION: Fertility can be secured after nonalkylating chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma. In contrast, alkylating chemotherapy has a dismal effect, even after a limited number of cycles
HST Imaging of the Ionizing Radiation from a Star-forming Galaxy at z = 3.794
We report on the HST detection of the Lyman-continuum (LyC) radiation emitted
by a galaxy at redshift z=3.794, dubbed Ion1 (Vanzella et al. 2012). The LyC
from Ion1 is detected at rest-frame wavelength 820890 \AA with HST
WFC3/UVIS in the F410M band ( magnitude (AB), peak SNR =
4.17 in a circular aperture with radius r = 0.12'') and at 700830 \AA
with the VLT/VIMOS in the U-band ( magnitude (AB), peak SNR
= 6.7 with a r = 0.6'' aperture). A 20-hr VLT/VIMOS spectrum shows low- and
high-ionization interstellar metal absorption lines, the P-Cygni profile of CIV
and Ly in absorption. The latter spectral feature differs from what
observed in known LyC emitters, which show strong Ly emission. An HST
far-UV color map reveals that the LyC emission escapes from a region of the
galaxy that is bluer than the rest, presumably because of lower dust
obscuration. The F410M image shows that the centroid of the LyC emission is
offset from the centroid of the non-ionizing UV emission by 0.12''0.03'',
corresponding to 0.850.21 kpc (physical), and that its morphology is
likely moderately resolved. These morphological characteristics favor a
scenario where the LyC photons produced by massive stars escape from low HI
column-density "cavities" in the ISM, possibly carved by stellar winds and/or
supernova. We also collect the VIMOS U-band images of a sample of 107
Lyman-break galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts at , i.e.
sampling the LyC, and stack them with inverse-variance weights. No LyC emission
is detected in the stacked image, resulting in a 32.5 magnitude (AB) flux limit
(1) and an upper limit of absolute LyC escape fraction . LyC emitters like Ion1 are very likely at the bright-end of the LyC
luminosity function.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
IL-21 production by CD4+ effector T cells and frequency of circulating follicular helper T cells are increased in type 1 diabetes patients.
AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Type 1 diabetes results from the autoimmune destruction of insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells by T cells. Despite the established role of T cells in the pathogenesis of the disease, to date, with the exception of the identification of islet-specific T effector (Teff) cells, studies have mostly failed to identify reproducible alterations in the frequency or function of T cell subsets in peripheral blood from patients with type 1 diabetes. METHODS: We assessed the production of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-21, IFN-γ and IL-17 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 69 patients with type 1 diabetes and 61 healthy donors. In an additional cohort of 30 patients with type 1 diabetes and 32 healthy donors, we assessed the frequency of circulating T follicular helper (Tfh) cells in whole blood. IL-21 and IL-17 production was also measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from a subset of 46 of the 62 donors immunophenotyped for Tfh. RESULTS: We found a 21.9% (95% CI 5.8, 40.2; p = 3.9 × 10(-3)) higher frequency of IL-21(+) CD45RA(-) memory CD4(+) Teffs in patients with type 1 diabetes (geometric mean 5.92% [95% CI 5.44, 6.44]) compared with healthy donors (geometric mean 4.88% [95% CI 4.33, 5.50]). Consistent with this finding, we found a 14.9% increase in circulating Tfh cells in the patients (95% CI 2.9, 26.9; p = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: These results indicate that increased IL-21 production is likely to be an aetiological factor in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes that could be considered as a potential therapeutic target.This work was supported by the JDRF UK Centre for
Diabetes - Genes, Autoimmunity and Prevention (D-GAP; 4-2007-1003) in collaboration with M. Peakman and T. Tree at King’s College
London, the JDRF, the Wellcome Trust (WT; WT061858/091157 and
083650/Z/07/Z) and the National Institute for Health Research
Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (CBRC). The Cambridge
Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) is in receipt of a Wellcome Trust
Strategic Award (100140). RCF is funded by a JDRF post-doctoral fellowship
(3-2011-374). CW is funded by the Wellcome Trust (088998).
The funding organisations had no involvement with the design and
conduct of the study; collection,management, analysis, and interpretation
of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00125-015-3509-8
New neighbours. III. 21 new companions to nearby dwarfs, discovered with adaptive optics
We present some results of a CFHT adaptive optics search for companions to
nearby dwarfs. We identify 21 new components in solar neighbourhood systems, of
which 13 were found while surveying a volume-limited sample of M dwarfs within
12pc. We are obtaining complete observations for this subsample, to derive
unbiased multiplicity statistics for the very-low-mass disk population.
Additionally, we resolve for the first time 6 known spectroscopic or
astrometric binaries, for a total of 27 newly resolved companions. A fair
fraction of the new binaries has favourable parameters for accurate mass
determinations. The newly resolved companion of Gl120.1C had an apparent
spectroscopic minimum mass in the brown-dwarf range (Duquennoy & Mayor 1991)
and it contributed to the statistical evidence that a few percent of solar type
stars might have close-in brown-dwarf companions. We find that Gl~120.1C
actually is an unrecognised double-lined spectroscopic pair. Its
radial-velocity amplitude had therefore been strongly underestimated by
Duquennoy & Mayor, and it does not truly belong to their sample of single-lined
systems with minimum spectroscopic mass below the substellar limit. We also
present the first direct detection of Gl~494B, an astrometric brown-dwarf
candidate. Its luminosity does straddle the substellar limit, and it is a brown
dwarf if its age is less than 300Myr. A few more years of observations will
ascertain its mass and status from first principles.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic
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